December 17, 2012

As most of America, I sit in disbelief and shock of the mass murder that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. The murder of 20 innocent children and six teaching staff members is insane and plain evil. My first response was to express to my children the love I have for them. Yet, I could feel the pain of those parents thousands of miles away as tears stored up in my own eyes. I kept asking myself “Why?” and “How?” in my own mind. While it was difficult to imagine any excuse for such an act or the numerous acts of violence we have seen recently, there are reasons why evil has come upon us as a nation. Some may try to blame guns; but this goes far beyond guns. It is something that goes on in the mind of the criminal or murderer to create such hideous acts.

We have become a society has become more dehumanized and “godless” in our culture. We have glorified violence as part of our daily lives, embarrassing evil as fun and entertaining. Children sit in front of video games, shooting and blowing up people in realistic form. Once the game is finished, the images are ingrained in the mind of these young children, dehumanizing their thoughts and behavior. Our children watch violent movies and listen to music that preach murder and the degrading of women. Just last year, President Obama invited Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., better known as Common to the White House. This so called poetic thug called for the slaying of a police officer rapping “I got the black strap to make the cops run. They watching me. I’m watching them.” Common continues, “When we roll together with a strapped gun, we’re going to be rocking them to sleep (die).”

The moral decay and lack of respect for authority in our nation is a reflection of its leaders. This immorality began with the removal of God from society and prayer from our school. In 1962, the year prayer was removed from our public schools, top educators listed among their top complaints children standing out of line, not putting paper in the waste paper basket, and chewing gum in class. By comparison, just recently the top educators listed among their complaints gang warfare, teen pregnancy, drugs, assault, and threats against teachers and other students and murder.

According to the U.S. Department Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States, criminal arrests of teens (14-17 years old) are up 150% since 1950. Teen suicides (15-19 years old) are up 450%. Child abuse is up 2,300%, and illegal drug use of teenagers is up 6,000% since the 1950s. Just recently, in March 2008, the Center for Disease Control reported 25% of teenage girls have a sexually transmitted disease. Today, we live in a society where casual sex is expected, and 20% of pregnancies end in an abortion.

In a 2010 Gallup Poll, 76% of Americans indicated a belief that America’s moral values were declining. Many of these moral values are instilled in the family, school, and church; but our society has placed less interest on family, the church,which has caused a drop in moral values in our society.

The moral meltdown of our nation is here. Our children do not know wrong from right as many of our leaders live a life of immorality and corruption. We have become a nation that glorifies what is wrong and looks down upon what is right. In the Bible, Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil.” We have lowered moral standards and values in our society, and as a result, America is reaping the unthinkable evil that is occurring in our society.

Our nation needs prayer to recover and God in order to restore our moral standards in society once again.